Game board apparatus



July 23, 1957 A, H, P K RD 2,800,330

- GAME BOARD APPARATUS Filed Feb. 24, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LL JIIL July23, 1957 A. H. PICKARD A 2,800,330

GAME BOARD AE5PARATUS med Feb. 24, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AIRPORT LANDINGHAZARD cARos CARD A5 TRON LOSE GAIN MOVE PMNE 5-POINT$ IO-POINTS 2-SIDEW/IYS MOVE MAP FORWHRD I-SPACE j yd u yiuf 6'0 I fia erzar v j" ,1;film/z EFaZ/Zzzrd United rates Patent GAME BOARD APPARATUS Alan H.Pickard, Leeds, England, assignor to Parker Brothers, Inc., Salem, Mass,a corporation of Maine Application February 24, 1955, Serial No. 496,366

2 Claims. (Cl. 273-134) This invention relates to games and moreespecially to a game of the type including a board, game pieces andplaying cards for directing movement of the game pieces and totallingthe final score.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a game which isinteresting, entertaining and instructive, which can be played with aconsiderable amount of competitive skill by adults, although, alwaysattendant by a certain amount of luck or can be played with equalinterest and satisfaction by children without much skill or though,which is attractive and appealing in its makeup, which is adapted to bemodified in various ways in its pictorial aspect without changing itsmode of play, which is adapted to be manufactured of paper or paperboardproducts, plastics, wood or metal and which in its makeup is durable andwill withstand prolonged use.

As herein illustrated the game comprises a game board having astationary transparent playing surface for receiving game pieces and asubjacent playing field movable therebeneath, the playing field being inthe form of a web wound on rollers and having on its surface indiciarepresenting an itinerary of travel and also having distributedtherealong areas which when brought into juxtaposition with a game pieceby play will entitle the participant to a reward or subject him to apenalty. Playing pieces of different kind are also provided, one foreach participant adapted to be placed on the stationary playing surfaceand to moved about on the surface in accordance with instructions. Thereare three distinct sets of playing cards, one set carrying instructionsfor movement of the pieces. A given number of these cards is distributedto each participant at the commencement of the game and each participantin turn is entitled to select from his hand of cards any one and havingselected a card moves his playing piece in accordance with theinstructions thereon, along the playing surface and/ or the playingfield therebeneath. Movement of the playing pieces and/ or the playingfield may bring into juxtaposition areas representing reward orpenalization and playing pieces of one or more of the participants andas this happens cards from the other two groups of cards bearing plusand minus points of reward for adding to the final score or penalizationfor subtracting from the final score are distributed to the successfulor unsuccessful participant. The web has marked thereon a startingplace, a finish place and is divided into a specific number of unitareas by spaced parallel longitudinally and transversely extending linesfor guiding movement of the pieces in accordance with instructions. Thegame is terminated automatically by appearance of the finsh mark belowthe transparent playing surface at the end opposite the starting end.The game board comprises a flat supporting surface which has in it atransparent panel and the web is mounted on the spaced parallel rollerstherebeneath, one at each end. The board is in the form of a hollow boxhaving a top, bottom, sides and ends and the ends of the top areprovided with transversely extending openings forming pockets withinwhich the rollers are journaled for rotation in a manner to permittraversing of the web from one to the other across the top. A resilientlip projects downwardly from the inner edge of each pocket opening forengagement with the coils of the web on the roller at that end to brakeits rotation and thus to insure tight winding and to prevent loosenessof the coils when winding. A horizontal lip at the opposite edge of eachopening partially closes the same, preventing lifting of the rolls fromthe pockets by the unwinding forces applied thereto. The ends of therolls are grooved and are engaged with recesses formed in the walls forpreventing endwise movement thereof. The transparent panel is a windowin a cover applied to the top to cover both the web and the pockets. Thesides of the cover have recesses therein adapted to embrace and enterthe grooves in the ends of the rolls and the ends of the cover havelocking tongues engageable with slots in the ends of the board to holdthe cover at a predetermined spacing from the supporting surface topermit free movement of the web beneath the window.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the game board;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the game board;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the game board;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the game board with the cover removed,partly broken away and with one end partially folded;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the playing field mounted on rollersshowing the indicia printed on the field;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation at one side near one end of the gameboard enlarged to show the bearing for the roller and course of travelof the movable playing field;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section longitudinally of the bottomshowing the end structure of the bottom;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevation of the cover at one side near one endshowing the locking flap and bearing notch;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary elevation of the cover at one end showing thelocking flap;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary vertical section of the cover showing thewindow structure;

Fig. 11 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 11-11 of Fig.4;

Fig. 12 shows the back and front faces of the playing cards;

Fig. 13 shows the back and front faces of the penalty imposing scoringpoints;

Fig. 14 shows the back and front faces of reward imposing playingpoints; and

Fig. 15 shows a perspective of a playing piece.

Referring to the figures the game 10 comprises essentially a playingboard 12, a movable playing field 14 supported thereby and a cover 16including a transparent fixed playing surface 17, beneath which theplaying field is movable. The playing board, Fig. 4, is a substantiallyrectangular hollow box comprised of paperboard of suflicient stiffnessto provide the necessary rigidity and has a fiat bottom 18, Fig. 7, afiat top 20, Fig. 4, spaced vertically therefrom, spaced parallel ends22. and spaced parallel sides 24. The sides 24 rise vertically from thebottom 18 and the top 20 is connected along its opposite edges to theupper edges of the sides. In the top 20 near its opposite ends aretransversely extending openings 26 having inner and outer edges definingpockets at the ends of the board for reception of rollers as will bedescribed hereinafter. The inner edge of each opening, Figs. 6 and 7,has a downwardly and outwardly extending lip 28 which is an integralpart of the top and is formed by making a transverse cut through the topwhich forms the outer edge of the opening and spaced parallel lateralcuts at opposite ends of the transverse cut which coincide with theedges of the box and by folding the severed material along a transverseline to form the inner edge of the opening. The sides of the box at theends of the openings are provided with upwardly open notches 30 cutdownwardly from the upper edges of the sides which from bearings for the-rollers mentioned above.

The end walls of the box are formed integral with the bottom and arehinged at 32 so that they may be folded upwardly therefrom. The endwallshave hinged locking tongues 34 at their upper extremities which maybe frictionally engaged beneath the upper wall of the box and arepreferably of greater width than the width of the narrow portion of thetop between the outer edge of the opening therein and its end edge sothat a part of the tongue projects horizontally inwardly into theopening 26.

A roller 36 is journaled-in each pair of the journal bearings 30 in thesides of the box and each roll is provided 'at its opposite ends with aperipheral groove 38 of such width as to receive the edge thickness ofthe wall of the box within the journal.

The playing field 14 (Fig. is in the form of a web of flexible sheetmaterial, for example, paper or fabric attached at its ends to the rolls36 and long enough to provide a field which may be moved from one rollto the other beneath the window. The web passes from one roller to theother upwardly through the open mouth of the pocket in which the roll isseated over the inner edge of the opening across the top of the box anddownwardly into the opposite opening in which the other roll is seated.The lip in each of the openings bears against the inner side of the rollfrictionally resisting rotation and hence preventing the coils on therollers from becoming loose and thus causing slack in the web duringplay. The edge of the tongue 34 which projects inwardly from theopposite or outer edge of the opening 26 partially overlies the upperpart of the roll thus preventing the rolls from lifting due to thedrawing 01f force and also guiding the web as it is drawn off so that itwill run smoothly over the top 20 and will not bulge upwardly at itsends.

The web carries on its surface between its opposite edges a portrayal ofan itinerary, for example, it might be a continuous map showing thevarious countries in the order of their occurrence circumferentially ofthe world as shown in Fig. 5 by the land and ocean areas 40 and 41distributed along the web. Alternatively, however, a journey through aparticular country may be portrayed or again an event of local interestsuch as a racetrack, an obstacle course, a baseball game or the like.Distributed along the web in conjunction with the particular portrayalare also areas 42 and 44 which broadly are termed Safe Areas andHazardous Areas. As herein illustrated the pictorial carried by the webis a map round the world and at various points in the map there are safespots represented as Airports on which a plane may safely land andHazard Spots represented by electrical storms, tornadoes and the likewhich if landed upon would be unsafe. The web is divided throughout itsarea by spaced parallel longitudinally and transversely extending lines43 which divide the web into a plurality of small squares of uniformsize and provide means for counting off the distance of game piece is tobe moved along its course in accordance with play. At one end of the webthere is printed transversely thereof a line of starting markersnumbered in order from left to right, 1, 5, 2, 3, 6 and 4. At theopposite end of the web there is marked the words Game Over.

The cover 16 (Figs. 8, 9 and 10) has a top .52, ends 54 and sides 56 andis adapted to fit snugly over the top of the box. The sides 56 areprovided with downwardly open notches 58 corresponding to the notches 30in the side walls of the box, both in shapeyand positionv so as toembrace the top or upper sides of the rollers when the cover is placedon the box. Thus the notches 30 and 58 cooperate to provide circularbearings for the'ends of the rolls. Within the top 52 of the cover thereis a large rectangular opening for reception of the transparen playingsurface 17. A border within the order of /2'is left along each edge ofthe web and the transverse width of the opening is made approximately aswide as the space between the borders. The length of the opening isapproximately equal to the distance between the openings in the top ofthe box. Within this opening there is cemented or otherwise attached tothe underside of the cover a transparent element, for example, any oneof the common transparent plastics, an acetate plastic being suitable. Afiexible plastic is preferred when the box and cover are made ofpaperboard or other flexible material since there will not be as muchdanger of the window being cracked. If the box is made of a rigidmaterial, for example, molded plastic or wood, or metal the window maythen of course be made of glass.

At each end of the cover there is a locking tongue 57 adapted to beengaged within slots 59 at the ends of the bottom to hold the cover inplace and spaced sufficiently from the playing field to permit it to bemoved only beneath the cover.

A plurality of game pieces 60 is provided in the form of airplanes (Fig.15) of different colors so that each participant may distinguish hisplane from the others. Three sets of cards (Figs. 12, 13 and 14) areprovided. One set of cards have marked on one side the word Astron andon the opposite side at opposite sides of a dividing line, instructionsas to the movement of a plane and/or the movement of the playing field.For example, as shown in Fig. 12 there is printed on the card Move PlaneTwo Sideways, Move Map Forward One Space. The second set of cards, shownin Fig. 13, have marked on one side the words Hazard Cards and on theopposite side Lose Five Points. The third set of cards (Fig. 14) havemarked on one side Airport Landing Card and on the opposite side GainTen Points.

Preparatory to playing the game the roller at the righthand end of thebox as seen in Fig. 4 is turned in a clockwise direction until thestarting markers 1, 5, 2, 3, 6 and 4 appear beneath the transparentwindow next to the lefthand end thereof. Each player then selects aplane of the color he wishes and places it upon one of the startingmarkers. Thetravel cards are then shuffied and five (5) cards are dealtto each participant. The remainder of these cards are turned upside downand constitute a draw pile. Both the stack of hazard cards and theairport landing cards are also shufiled and placed face down. As thegame begins the starting player selects one of his five cards and placesit face up alongside the draw pile of the Astron Cards to start adiscard pile. He then moves his plane, the map or both his plane and themap according to the directions on the card which he has just played. Ifthe card indicates a plane move and a map move the plane is always movedfirst. After the player has completed his play he takes a card from thedraw pile to replace the card that he has played and his turn ends.Other players follow in turn, playing in a similar manner, first playingto the discard pile, then moving the game piece and finally drawing anew card to complete their hand.

Planes must be moved in accordance with the instructions on the cardAstron Cards. In sideway moves-the players have the choice of movingeither to the right or to the left. In diagonal moves they have thechoice of moving diagonally in any one of the four diagonal directions.In making the moves a player may not land on a space already occupied byanother plane but may pass foyer other planes. There must always be onevacant space in front of and behind each plane. Should a plane land on aspace directly behind or directly ahead of another plane the plane tothe rear must move back one space. If the rear plane should be locatedon a space'at the back edge of the playing area it is moved one space tothe right or to the left at the discretion of the player whose turn itis.

There are eleven (11) Airports colored red and numbered from 1 toll onthe playing surface. There are a so twen yne (29) H za d wh ch are marketar:

nadoes, high winds, mountains and etc. When ever during a game a planecomes to rest on any one of the Airports at the end of any turn, whetheron his own turn or whether as a result of a movement of the map byanother player, the player owning that plane is entitled to an Airportcard. Similarly should a plane come to rest on a hazard space the playerowning that plane must take a Hazard card. Both the Airport cards andthe Hazard cards are retained until the end of the game and the points,won or lost, should not be disclosed to the other players until the endof the game. Airport and Hazard cards are given out to players Whoseplanes rest on airports or hazards only at the end of the complete turn.If a plane lands on an airport or a hazard after a move of the plane butis moved off by turning the map on the same turn, the owner does notcollect a card. Planes must land on the same airport or hazard more thanonce but they must either move off or be moved off by the movement ofthe map between landings in order to get additional cards.

The game ends when the words Game Over appear at the edge of the playingarea at the right-hand end of the board, regardless of the positions ofthe planes at that time. The players Whose turn it is completes his playand all the planes resting on airport or hazard spaces at the completionof that play are given the proper cards. Each player adds up the totalnumber of points on the Airport cards that he has collected andsubtracts from them the total number of points on his Hazard cards. Theplayer with the highest net score is the winner.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a game, the combination of a flat transparent support constitutinga playing surface, said surface being of a predetermined length forsupporting several game pieces for movement therealong, a'flexible stripbeneath the support, a second flat support beneath the flexible stripspaced from and parallel to the transparent support and formingtherewith a longitudinal passage through which the flexible strip may bemoved, said second support having contact with the lower surface of thestrip and holding it with its upper surface in contact with theunderside of the transparent support, spools at the ends of the secondsupport to which end portions of the strip are fastened, a pictorialdisplay on a portion of the strip, said display being of greater lengththan said predetermined length of the playing surface and constituting aplaying field, said display having marked on it start and finish lines,there being enough to the strip at each end end of the pictorial displayso that the display portion can be traversed from one roller to theother during the course of the game to move the strip from a position inwhich the starting line is at the further end of the playing surface atthe commencement of the game to a position in which the finish line isat the near end of the playing surface at the end of the game, saidstrip being divided by spaced parallel, transverse and longitudinallyextending lines into unit areas within which game pieces may be placed,game pieces adapted to be placed on the playing surface at placescoinciding with a defined area on the playing field therebelow, meansfor rotating the spools to advance or retract the movable playing field,a hand of cards for each player from which one may be drawn for eachplay, said cards bearing instructions for moving the game piece alongthe playing surface and instructions for moving the playing fieldbeneath the playing surface, additional lots of cards bearing pointswhich affect the ultimate score, and indicia on certain of the definedareas of the playing field movable by movement of the strip to move suchindicia relative to the game pieces on the support, said indicia whenmoved beneath a given game piece indicating from which of saidadditional lots of cards a card is to be drawn for distribution to theplayer whose game piece is above said indicia.

2. A game comprising in combination, interengageable top and bottom boxsections, the top section having a rectangular opening through it, atransparent element fixed to the top section so as to subtend theopening and to form a flat, playing surface of a predetermined lengthfor supporting game pieces for movement thereon, a fiat elevated supportsubstantially shorter in length than the bottom section fixed within thebottom section, the surface of said elevated support being below andparallel to the transparent element in the cover section and formingtherewith a longitudinally fiat passage corresponding substantially inlength to the transparent element, there being transversely extendingpockets at the ends of said elevated support, a flexible web disposedbetween the supports and being held by the lower support engaged withthe upper support, said web being slidable between the supports andvisible through the upper support, spools journaled in the pockets atthe ends of the bottom section, to which the ends of the Web areconnected, a pictorial display on a portion of the web, said displaybeing of greater length than said predetermined length of thetransparent playing surface and constituting a playing field, saiddisplay having marked on it start and finish line, there being enough ofthe strip at each end of the pictorial display so that the displayportion can be traversed from one roll to the other during the course ofthe game to move the web to a position in which the starting line is atthe further end of the playing surface at the commencement of the gameto a position in which the finish line is at the near end of the playingsurface at the end of the game, said web being divided by straightparallel, transversely longitudinally extending lines into unit areas inwhich game pieces may be placed, game pieces adapted to be placed on theplaying surface at places coinciding with a defined area on the playingfield therebelow, knobs extending from the ends of the spools throughthe walls of the box sections for rotating the spools to advance orretract the movable playing field, a hand of cards for each player fromwhich one may be drawn for each pla said cards bearing instructions formoving the game pieces along the playing surface and instructions formoving the playing field beneath the playing surface, additional lots ofcards bearing points which affect the ultimate score, and indicia oncertain of the defined areas of the playing field movable by movement ofthe web to move such indicia relative to the game pieces on the support,said indicia when moved beneath a given game piece indicating from whichsaid additional lots of cards a card is to be drawn for distribution tothe player whose game piece is above said indicia.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,414,788 Parsons May 2, 1922 1,448,201 Cornell Mar. 13, 1923 1,523,976Meyer Jan. 20, 1925 1,532,069 Ortiz Mar. 31, 1925 1,708,479 MacdonaldApr. 9, 1929 1,928,790 Luhn Oct. 3, 1933 1,957,378 Zimmerman May 1, 19342,128,608 Goertemiller Aug. 30, 1938 2,215,352 Flory Sept. 17, 19402,221,451 Jones Nov. 12, 1940 2,597,848 Reeser May 27, 1952 2,613,879Carr Oct. 14, 1952 2,618,429 Donnell Nov. 18, 1952 2,676,701 Scully Apr.27, 1954 2,709,124 Wales May 24, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,770 GreatBritain 1896 198,531 Great Britain June 7, 1923

